please tell me your mouse stories . . .

I know there was a humorous thread about mice a while ago, but this is serious. ;)

I have a mouse, and I am just horrified. It's disgusting, and I'm convinced I'm going to die of hanta-virus. I just bought traps and cleaned and I even bought some things you plug in that are supposed to drive the mice away with a high-pitched sound (who knows if that will work, but I figured I'd try).

Anyway . . . anyone have any successful (or unsuccessful) stories about getting rid of mice? I mostly just need the encouragement that not all is lost. I've just moved in to my apartment about two weeks ago, and I've been very clean, so it is very depressing.

Hi Kratsy. I think the Bubonic plague is no longer a worry. :lol: :D Let me know if those high pitched noise things work. I never had the heart to kill mice. But I guess one must. Those sticky traps work well, but makes the poor mice suffer. The swinging trap are instaneous but leave a bloody mess. :sick:

I do have one (mildly?) amusing mouse tale (tail?). Several years ago while finishing my studies for my teaching license (in other words while working 40 hours at my job and then spending another 40+ on my studies with very little sleep at all) my wife woke me up from my much-needed slumber screaming about the biggest mouse she had ever seen hiding behind the couch. Being the dutiful husband I went to check it out, armed (just in case) with a broom. As I leaned over the back of the couch my wife cried out, "Do you see it? The tail is enormous!" And sure enough... there it was... dark gray and about as big as my forearm... a long tubular bit of Styrofoam insulation that had fallen from around the air-conditioning. I asked her what was she thinking, we had an 8-foot mouse? and then staggered back to bed. But the mouse tale didn't stop there. My wife continued to swear that she had seen mice running through the house while sitting up late watching TV. She even swore that she felt one run over the sheets while we were in bed. I never saw any of this and was certain she was nuts until late one night I saw not one, nor two, but three mice go running by on my book shelves. As I went to investigate I discovered (horror or all horrors!!) that the little beasts had been doing their business on my books!:flare: This, of course, meant immediate war. Traps, poison, anything until my library was once again a secure and dropping-free sanctuary.:lol:

haha, thanks for that story Stlukes. three mice at once! and your books! I'm glad you won. ;)

My cat has caught a couple of mice and I'll tell you, she's friggin' sadistic. She will not kill the mouse, she just screws with it. She'll trap in in her paws, then slap it around some and let it go, only to let it run about 3 feet and pounce on it again. The mouse looks terrified, like it's heart can't take anymore, but she'll do this for hours. Sometimes, the mouse will get away and hide in a shoe or under a box or something, then she'll just look at me and cry, like I should do something about it. The only thing that really amazes me is that the whole time, my dogs won't even pay notice. I would think that if they were to see a mouse, they'd try to get it. But they just leave her be. Eventually, she will kill the thing, but only after torturing it for a good 2-3 hours.

Probably not workable with you being in NJ, but one of the best ways to get rid of mice is by letting a bat fly around your house one night. I believe it works by the high pitch noise of the bat scaring away the mouse.

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Originally Posted by kilted exile

Probably not workable with you being in NJ, but one of the best ways to get rid of mice is by letting a bat fly around your house one night. I believe it works by the high pitch noise of the bat scaring away the mouse.

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a mouse underfoot or a bat overhead....


A few years ago I was sitting outside when my three year old daughter began to scream a most terrified, blood-curdling scream. My first thought was that one of the boys had fallen off of the bunk-bed and broken their neck, (not a nice image for a mother) but when I went indoors to inquire as to her distress, I could hear her screaming, "RACCOOOOONNNNNN!!!!! Raccoon! Raccoon!" I was like...holy ****! how in the hell did a raccoon get into our house! but as I opened the door to her room I see this miniature mouse running frantically into her closet. (talk about high-pitched noises scaring mice)

anyway, we introduced our cat Molly to the mouse and she made fast friends with it, poor thing. I still laugh when I think of that mouse and Daphne's grandiose image of it.

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Originally Posted by kilted exile

Probably not workable with you being in NJ, but one of the best ways to get rid of mice is by letting a bat fly around your house one night. I believe it works by the high pitch noise of the bat scaring away the mouse.

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I am hoping that my plugged in high pitched noises are working. I do not think I'd enjoy a bat! I spent a summer in Indiana, and there were bats in our dorm once in a while. I was like . . . eek! Although people who were more familiar with them didn't really mind.

I kind of wish I could have a cat - that is perhaps the best way, but my room is too small.

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Originally Posted by kratsayra

I kind of wish I could have a cat - that is perhaps the best way, but my room is too small.

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Bah!! I have three cats and they NEVER chase mice. Perhaps i over feed them...:lol: :lol:

Do try the bat. Bats are nice :lol:

EDIT

The funnier mouse story i have heard is about a mouse living in a printer. Printer works fine by the way..

Erm, just to clarify things - you dont actually keep the bat, only get someone to fly it through your house one night while you stay at a friends or a hotel or something like that. Mouse leaves, Bat gets taken away, nice rodent free house.

ack!! My new place is overrun with mice. OK ya'll know I'm dramatic, it's not really overrun we have a few. ick. In fact I was sitting at my desk when one of those little bastards darted from the copy room into the hallway, I saw it out of the corner of my eye. Currently we use glue traps, those seem kinda wrong is there anything better?

A lot of pest control companies will offer a live trap. It is pretty efficient and gives the option if you want of not killed the tim'rous beastie.

OK, this is true. My father's nickname was Mouse. He owned a bar called the Mousetrap. I have been hired by complete strangers to remove mice from a house. It is very simple. I prefer to use the live traps, I hate to kill them. These traps will shut when the mouse goes all the way in to get the bait.

First the bait.... I use cheese, and peanut butter. mix 2 parts cheese to 1 part peanut butter. Mix these together by hand, and smear a little more peanut butter on the piece (peanut butter is the aromatice attractant, cheese is the binding agent). Don't wash your hands until you have set the trap. The smell of peanut butter is stronger than the smell of human, and will mask your presence. Set a small sample piece aside for later...see below

Then take this small 1cmx1cm piece and set it all the way to the back of the trap, press it into a corner of the back of the trap. Place the trap near the edge of a wall, that has some droppings...this means they are using it as a travel route, and feel secure about leaving droppings.

Then place the little sample piece just outside the trap by an inch or two. This is a preliminary lure. It will bring the mouse in, and the big piece in the back of the trap will be too good to resist.

Ok...you've got your mouse now what. You should scout a field that doesn't have cats in it all of the time, and is not too close to other houses. Once you catch the mouse, gently move the trap, the mouse will be terrified. Anyways, release the mouse on the edge of a field and forested area...it will choose its next home. Good luck.

i have 16 pet mice...but they are small...and will stay that way... there about half the size of my pinkie full grown...there realy cute, we mutated them in Ag... lol we manganed to breed them like that there adorable...rats are gross...but mice are cute. :D:D:D:D:D

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Originally Posted by kratsayra

Anyway . . . anyone have any successful (or unsuccessful) stories about getting rid of mice?

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Well, I suppose an ordinary mousetrap works best...

But I do have a few stories :p This is one of them: One particular mouse suffered from a very bad stroke of luck as it came in through our open door one summer day. I just happened to be inside using the .... vacuum cleaner :brow: It scurried right past me, and I reacted without thinking: Slurp! The thought of a mouse in the vacuum cleaner did not appeal to me however, so I went outside, opened it up and emptied the bag, Sure enough, a very tattered looking mouse fell out, and zipped away as fast as it knew how. :D

My wife still does not know about that one :lol:

/Claes

The only time I've ever dealt with a mouse in any way was with my first job at a candy store. If I had my way, I would not have used it, but my boss used one of those sticky traps. I worked quickly, and I guess for running a candy store, that was the most important thing, but I felt so bad for the poor little guy.

My nieces used to have a couple of pet rats named Cagney and Lacey. I think mice are cuter.

OH MY...GAWD! LOL pendragon....LOL

I like mice, lovely little things. Understandably though, they're not the most welcome fellows to have running around your home.

You can buy traps quite easily these days that will trap a mouse but not harm it, they've what we've used in the past and have done the trick. Mousey can be released somewhere nice away from the house, you get rid of your unwanted guest...voila, everyone's happy.

OMG pendragon that is amazing !!!!!! lol you just completely cheered me up:D :D:D tee hee. go pen...

by the way, you are so not allowed to have a vacume cleaner around my mice lol.

uhh..you guys I'm really confused. Pen didn't post on this thread (yet?)...um...it's claes with the vaccum...am i seeing things?

Yeah, I've been confused about that too.:confused: I thought it was just too early in the morning and I missed Pen's post.

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Originally Posted by crazefest456

uhh..you guys I'm really confused. Pen didn't post on this thread (yet?)...um...it's claes with the vaccum...am i seeing things?

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Yep, I'm guilty of the vacuum cleaner thing. Here is another one from work back in the neolithic days when we used mainframe computers with dumb terminals:

One day one of our dumb terminals acted even dumber than usual: It just would not work, so we sent it off for repair. After a few days it was returned together with a note and a plastic bag. The note, supposed to explain the problem with the equipment said "The machinists mate was dead". Huh? :confused: So we opened the bag and out fell the tiny (fried) mouse that had shorted the machine. :sick:

/Claes

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Originally Posted by Shea

Yeah, I've been confused about that too.:confused: I thought it was just too early in the morning and I missed Pen's post.

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haha, I went back looking for Pen's post at least twice.:lol:

oooh, I have many mouse stories... :p yes they can be carriers of hanta virus, but you would probably know if it was in your area ;)

I love mice, I think they're sweet little creatures, and only once accidentally stepped on one! :bawling: a decided 'crunch' under my riding boot heel. I would often be greeted by a few of them in my horses' grain bin when I went to feed them in the morning. They would be running in circles, panicked, pausing to look up at me plaintively with their little paws clasped together. I'd use the grain scoop to scoop them up then release them outside, imagining/hoping that they would not return :lol: I could never figure out how the heck they got into it--a large Rubbermaid container with locking lid--so of course mice must be magical, able to transport themselves through solid objects.

Claes' story reminds me of when a family of mice took up residence in the engine of my car! I don't know how long they had been there but they had an elaborate nest built up near the battery/engine wall, little bits of straw and grass entwined around cables and stuff. When I discovered it there were only droppings, no mice, but I felt awful tearing all of it out. They must have spend *days* building it. They never returned.

Here is yet another one: Many years ago I operated a CMM: A Coordinate Measuring Machine: It was able to measure things in three dimensions, down to the third decimal of a mm. One important fact is that it utilizes air cushion bearings, rather like a hovercraft, but a bit more delicate.

Here is what happened:

On one othewise pleasent morning the machine siezed in one axis during operation. I mean, it really got stuck! Assuming an air bearing had given up I uttered a few unprintable words and called the manufacturer. A service bloke turned up and we had a hard time releasing the siezed bearing (In the end we had to resort to brute force). To my surprise the machine was fully functional when we got it loose.

What on earth was wrong??? :confused: The bearing was obviously not damaged. On further examination we found some kind of dried smear on the bearing surface, in spite of the fact that it had been cleaned the previous day. Now what??? Another clue turned up: Small black thingies inside the machine. Mouse poop! We had mice in the CMM :idea:

The smear was not poop, but it turned out that the confounded rodent had chosen that spot to take a leak. Mouse pee! On the bearing surface. That bearing needed 0.005mm of air to run, and the mouse had beaten that.
Soon afterwards a rat trap snapped in the night, and we plugged some well hidden holes in the walls. Calm was restored. But let me tell you good people: That was one very expensive rodent...

/Claes

Argh! I remember when I had a mouse creeping around in my kitchen :(
I was terrified to even enter that room for a long while until I finally decided to brave it and prepare a cup of tea for myself.
I stood at the kettle and waited for it to boil...
I feel a large furry thing brush against my foot and I screamed thinking it was the mouse. I turned round and it turned out to be my friend stood there and laughing his head off....grrrr.

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Originally Posted by ClaesGefvenberg

"The machinists mate was dead". Huh? :confused: So we opened the bag and out fell the tiny (fried) mouse that had shorted the machine. :sick:

/Claes

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:lol: the note's hilarious!